Coca-Cola Board Recommends Stock Split

by Christopher Freeburn | April 25, 2012 12:26 pm

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO[1]) wants to do something it hasn’t done in years — offer a stock split[2].

The company’s board of directors voted to recommend a 2-for-1 split this morning. If approved by shareholders, it would be the 11th stock split in Coke’s near-century as a publicly traded company, and the first in 16 years.

Under the plan, which shareholders will vote on July 10, the number of outstanding shares of the beverage and snack food maker would double from 5.6 billion to 11.2 billion in August — the number of outstanding shares will go from roughly 2.26 billion to 4.52 billion.

KO shares have gained about 7% this year — including a roughly 1% boost Wednesday — and currently trade around $75.